The Welshman
by Hyena Cub
Rating: PG-13 for violence, language, and death, especially later on.
Genre: Harry Potter

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CHAPTER 4: Quidditch Trials

Peter, Ke'koa, and I just stared at Faolan for a minute after this very disturbing revelation. 'What do you mean, he just disappeared?' said Ke'koa, walking slowly to his bunk and beginning to strip off his sodden robes. 'Did he leave, or what?'

'Hold on,' I said suddenly, running over to Ke'koa's trunk, throwing it open, and grabbing up his mirror. Ke'koa watched me mildly as he got on some dry pajamas; he was used to me rummaging in his things, as he did the same with mine.

I took the mirror in my hands and said, 'Arcturus Rowle.' It took a few moments, but Arcturus's face finally showed.

'What's up?' he said. I quickly explained what Faolan had found out: that the Headmaster had disappeared, and Arcturus's face peered bewilderedly at me from the mirror. 'Disappeared? Professor Ryan? How?'

'None of the teachers know,' said Faolan, his eyes wide with intrigue, and I moved aside so Arcturus could see him. 'It's kind of creepy, actually. I've been listening to the teachers all over the castle for the last two hours. The last anyone saw of him was right after Divination. Professor Forrester was telling Professor Shannon that he looked distracted. Like he wasn't sure where he was going.'

'You don't think he's sick do you?' asked Peter worriedly. 'Or hurt, somehow?'

Faolan shook his head in bemusement. 'Dunno. No one's seen him since. Professor Miller – he teaches Muggle Studies - went up and looked for him in the Headmaster's office, but he wasn't there, and none of the portraits know where he went.'

'That's not normal!' said Arcturus. 'Teachers don't just leave Hogwarts without telling anyone do they? I mean…I'm sure they have business elsewhere sometimes…and Professor Ryan was in the Wizengamot, wasn't he?'

'I think so,' said Faolan.

'But if no one knows where he is…. I suppose Professor Miller's taken over for now? As Deputy Headmaster?'

'I guess,' said Faolan. 'It's not like they had it all planned out. I'm gonna try and get some more information, see if I can learn anything more.'

'This is just getting weird,' said Arcturus. 'If anyone else disappears, I'm moving to France.'

We all laughed, breaking the tension that had started to build, and Peter said that he'd rather move to Italy. 'The French talk too weird,' he said, which made me laugh even more. He had a point…I didn't like the French language either, because I couldn't learn it. It was too weird.

'I think it's a cool sounding language,' said Ke'koa.

'Well it is,' agreed Peter. 'But it's still weird.' From there we got into a conversation of various languages, and which ones we liked best, and if we all had to leave England ever, where we'd want to move. Professor Ryan was forgotten for the night…but we weren't able to forget it for long.

The next morning, Professor Ryan still wasn't at the staff table, and the teachers looked worried and tense. Students were beginning to talk about it, whispering to each other about what might have happened to him, and why he'd left without telling everyone.

By lunchtime, the theories were beginning to get really strange. Kento Kellerman, one of the older Gryffindor students, was convinced that he'd been kidnapped by goblins for debts he owed them, because who else but a powerful goblin could get past all the safeguards that were on the Hogwarts grounds?

Zephyr Lovegood, whose family has run the tabloid Quibbler for generations, said that either aliens had zapped him away, or the heliotropes had gone running amok and he'd had to flee from their wrath. Not many people took much stock in either of those theories, especially since there was no such thing as a heliotrope.

But hardly anyone argued that there was something weird going on. Arcturus asked Professor Melville, the witch who was head of his house, where the Headmaster had gone, and gotten a 'never you mind' in return. Ke'koa got much the same from Professor Miller in Muggle Studies, and when I found Professor Blake, the Head of Gryffindor, during break, I asked him the same thing.

He, at least, wasn't such a git about it…another reason why he was my favourite teacher. 'We're not actually sure what happened to Victor – Professor Ryan, that is,' he said quietly. 'We've been trying to get some information on where he might have gone, but most of us have classes to teach, and don't have a lot of time. Artemis has been doing some searching in Hogsmeade, and Wiley, the caretaker, has been also. But we just don't know.'

I frowned, not much liking that answer…and I had thought that the only danger that could possibly befall anyone at Hogwarts had to do with in class disasters and things like random Bludgers. All of a sudden I couldn't help but think back to that History of Magic essay I'd done over the summer about Tom Riddle.

'You'd best get to the greenhouses,' said Professor Blake. 'And keep quiet about this…no need to make a big deal about it just yet… And we don't need people to panic.'

'I will, sir,' I said. 'Thanks.'

Professor Blake smiled wanly, clapped me lightly on the shoulder, and went on his way. I headed outside for Herbology, feeling vaguely uneased and really curious.

I wrote to Dad that night, telling him what had happened and asking him if he or Mum knew anything about it. Mum worked in magical Law Enforcement; I hoped she could at least give me a clue.

The next morning Professor Ryan was still gone…and the next…and the next. None of the teachers seemed to want to talk about it, and from what we could tell, they didn't know any more than we did. I even tried using Divination class to get an answer, figuring that it couldn't hurt, but the only thing I found in my tea leaves that class was tea leaves. (I was more sure than ever that Divination wasn't for me.)

When I got a reply from Mum saying she hadn't heard anything about Ryan, I got fed up with the whole thing and left the investigating to Faolan. He was more determined than ever to solve the mystery, but I had other things that distracted me away from Professor Ryan's disappearance. Like Quidditch.

Quidditch trials were that Saturday, and I was determined to make the team, and couldn't let myself be distracted by strange happenings. Creaothceann tryouts had already been held, and Ke'koa made the team again, to his delight, and I could only hope I did as well.

The captain of the Gryffindor team was a girl named Aldora Hawkins, a sixth-year. She'd been captain since I had come to Hogwarts, when she was in fourth year. I got up early Saturday to get something to eat, trying not feel nervous about the tryout. I'd done it twice already, I should know what I was doing. Still, I wasn't able to eat much…only a little bit of toast.

My friends had also gotten up early to watch my tryouts, and Peter in particular tried to convince me to eat a little more than toast, but there was no way. Finally, as the other students began to fill the great Hall, I stood up and headed towards the pitch.

'Good luck!' called Faolan.

'Yeah, you'll get it this year!' Ke'koa added.

Arcturus's idea of encouragement was a little different. 'We'll be there with Levitation Charms ready…just in case!'

'Thanks a lot, you git!' I called, to general laughter. Shaking my head in irritated amusement (a feeling I would have thought impossible until I met Arcturus) I left the castle.

Thoughts of our missing Headmaster were far from my mind as I walked down to the field where we played our Quidditch matches. All the houses were holding their trials that day and had drawn lots to see who would go first. Gryffindor had drawn second, which meant we were going after Hufflepuff. That was fine with me, it would give me some time to wake up.

'Knew I'd see you out here,' said a boisterous voice as I approached the group of Gryffindors hoping to make it on the team that year.

I looked round and grinned on seeing Aldora, towering over me and grinning. Aldora was definitely a different sort of girl. She ate, slept, and breathed Quidditch. She was about six feet tall at the age of sixteen, and built more like a tank than anything else. But she still managed to look like a girl. She played Chaser.

'Definitely,' I said. 'I feel lucky today. I hope.'

Aldora laughed, clapping me on the back hard enough to make me stagger. Sometimes she didn't know her own strength. 'I've watched you improve hugely over the past two years,' she said. 'You've got a good chance. Trying out for Beater again?'

'Yeah. Chaser would be my second choice, but Beater's just way too fun.'

'You've got a violent streak, kid,' said Aldora, winking, and I snorted. Aldora was one of the few people I would let get away with calling me 'kid'. Aside from the face that she could tie me in a knot if I protested too much, she wasn't condescending when she used the word, so it didn't really bother me. Even if she was only three years older.

As I watched the Hufflepuffs' tryouts, I kind of felt sorry for their captain, a boy whose name I didn't know. He had about thirty first-years trying out for the team, and half of them didn't seem to know which end of the broom went first. (Literally. One boy tried to ride the thing backwards.) I hoped I hadn't been that bad when I tried out as a first year! I considered asking Aldora, but stopped myself…I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer.

The sun was shining bright and hot by the time Hufflepuff was finished with their trials; it looked like it was gonna be one of those hot autumn days that seemed like it should be in the middle of August. I clapped politely as the Hufflepuff captain announced those who had made it, and stood up from the grass, ready for my own tryout.

As was her custom, Aldora began the trial by having us fly around the pitch in groups, observing our style and how well we handled the brooms. Once she'd eliminated those who couldn't fly to save their lives, she went on to basic ball handling and maneuvering. I got through the first two rounds easily enough.

The final round had perhaps twenty-five people in it, and was position-specific. Eight people were trying out for Seeker, including last year's Seeker, Evin Quigley.

Aldora at first flung walnuts into the air for them to go after, watching how quickly they flew and how coordinated they were on their brooms. After narrowing them down to four people, she let out the Golden Snitch and told them to catch it. After only five minutes or so of frantic Seeking, the four players darting every which way above, no one was too surprised when Evin Quigley caught the Snitch.

The Chasers and the Keepers both tried out at the same time, the Chasers having to work together in teams and try to score with the Quaffle, and to Keepers trying to defend the goalposts. And then, finally, were the Beaters.

About half a dozen other kids had come to try out for the position, including a first year boy, and a girl. Girls didn't usually try out for Beater, but this one looked like she could handle it well enough. She was only a second-year, but she looked mean.

The seven of us rose into the air for a sort of free-for-all, where we had to chase after the Bludgers and hit them at each other. It was a King-of-the-Hill contest, and the last ones standing had the best chance. Of course Aldora said she wouldn't choose solely on who lasted the longest, but she'd be watching our techniques and skill.

This was always my favorite part of the tryouts. My first year I'd been hit in the head by one of the stupid Bludgers and woke up in the hospital wing with a giant headache. Needless to say I didn't get the position. Last year I'd lasted nearly until the end. But this year….

The Bludgers shot into the air like cannonballs, and everyone tore after them, eager to score the first hit. Everyone but me. My first instinct was to do the same, but I held back, zooming off to the side and keeping a close eye. Bludgers never kept a straight course; they zoomed around trying to unseat everyone and their brother, and I reckoned I'd have a better chance of catching one on the rebound, as it were. And I was right.

Not twenty seconds after the Bludgers were released, one of them came flying at me from above, whistling through the air. I made a quick dodge to my left, my head throbbing with adrenaline, the bat in my hand nearly shaking with a desire to hit the mad ball. My hand shot out, my muscles clenched, and a sound like a pistol shot echoed in the near-empty stands as my bat connected. It jarred me all the way to the shoulder, a feeling as satisfying as the sight of the Bludger soaring away to hit a burly sixth year between the shoulder blades. He growled in pain, spinning around, and I grinned his way. He didn't return the gesture.

I didn't come through the trials unscathed. The second-year girl hit a good one that sent one of the Bludgers into my thigh, nearly sending me crashing off my broom; good gods, that hurt! You don't know pain until you've been hit in that nerve that runs up the thigh by a speeding Bludger. I even went blank for a moment as I veered off towards the stands. I got my revenge, though; I nearly knocked her from her broom a few minutes later. She grinned at me, a trickle of blood running from above her eye, acknowledging my achievement. I grinned back, giving her a sort of salute with my bat before diving back into the tryout.

I was not one of the ones left in the air, to my great frustration. The girl and the burly bloke were the last two to remain on their brooms; I had just taken a Bludger to the shoulder from the boy and was knocked about twenty feet to the ground, my fall broken by a quick spell from Aldora's wand. I thanked her, but my heart seemed to have crash-landed all on its own, as I was certain I'd blown the tryouts.

Aldroa watched the two of them a few moments more before blowing her whistle and calling everyone over. Two of last year's team caught the Bludgers and wrestled them into the case, strapping them down so they wouldn't escape and hurt someone.

I barely listened as Aldora went through the list of those who'd made the team. Evin Quigley had made Seeker again, and one of last-year's Chasers had also returned, a sixth-year named Carey Henderson. The third Chaser was Rory Brennan, who was in my year. The Keeper was some girl I'd never met named Hannah Henderson.

Then the Beaters. The second-year girl's name was called (Sekhmet Stark), and I clapped for her, and then the second Beater was called…and I was so certain it would be the burly kid that for a moment I didn't realize what name Aldora had actually called.

The second-year girl poked me in the arm, looking amused, and I looked at her bemusedly. 'What?'

Sekhmet laughed. 'She called your name, you made the team!'

I looked at her blankly for a moment, then at Aldora, who looked just as amused, and I laughed in astonishment. 'You're joking!'

'No, I'm not,' said Aldora. 'Congratulations, kid.'

'Hold on a second!' The angry voice came from behind me, and belonged to the burly kid who'd lasted the longest in the air, along with Sekhmet. 'He got taken out before I did, why is he getting the position?'

Aldora sighed, shaking her head slightly, and turned to the rest of the team. 'All right you lot, clear out…we'll start practice Tuesday evening.' I glanced at the burly kid, who looked furious, and Aldora smirked. 'I can deal with him, don't worry.'

The disgruntled would-be Beater looked less than thrilled about Aldora's claim, but even he couldn't dispute it. As muscular as he was, Aldora was taller and at least as strong. I was tempted to stick around to see what happened but decided it would be best to just get the hell out of there. The shock of making the team was wearing off enough for me to actually be excited, and I laughed. Sekhmet, the girl who'd also made Beater grinned at me.

'Congrats,' she said, and my grin widened.

'You too,' I said, offering my hand. She shook it as we walked back towards the castle. Well, she walked, I limped. I was suddenly glad the kid was on our side! I wasn't sure, myself, why I had gotten the position above the other kid, but suspected his attitude might have had something to do with it.

Ke'koa and the others met us as we were halfway between the pitch and the castle, and Ke'koa nearly knocked me down as he ran at me. I yelled in protest as I stumbled on my bad leg, and he apologized, but he was laughing at the same time. 'That was wicked, mate!' he exclaimed.

'Yeah,' said Arcturus. 'My favorite part was when you got whacked by a girl!' He winked at Sekhmet, who rolled her eyes and went on ahead of us. I snorted and punched Arcturus in the arm.

'Finally, huh?' said Ke'koa. 'You've been waiting for this since first year!'

'No kidding!'

Arcturus grinned. 'Now I can announce all your spectacular moves when I commentate.' He'd been the commentator on the broom sports since last year, him and one of the Hufflepuff boys. They took turns with Quidditch and Creaothceann.

'Fantastic. Practice starts next week.'

We talked Quidditch all the way back into the castle, and my friends accompanied me to the hospital wing to make sure nothing was broken. Sekhmet was there, also, having the cut above her eye dealt with, and being told off by Mr Jacey, who wasn't a fan of sports that caused bodily harm. (Ke'koa was told off nearly every day by Mr Jacey.)

Once my bruised muscle was healed, we spent the rest of the day at our leisure. We went outside and swam in the lake, or played wizard tag (which involved using a color-changing Charm on people) or played Exploding Snap.

That night, I took some parchment and my quill and wrote a letter to my parents. I told them I'd finally made the Quidditch team, and that one of the older students wasn't happy about being cut out. (I wondered how Aldora had handled the brute.) I also asked if they'd heard anything yet about Professor Ryan before folding it up and using a wax stick to seal it.

Once I'd borrowed Peter's owl (he had a barn owl he used to carry his post) and sent the letter off, I got into bed and lay down. But it was a while before I could really get to sleep.